2005 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? Pesticides aimed at destructive insect populations have the potential to decrease the quality of the environment, impair or destroy non-targeted species, such as beneficial pollinators, predators and parasitoids, and lead to resistance in targeted organisms. Chemical signals (semiochemicals), such as attractants, provide a means to intercept invading insect species, enhance biological pest control, and manage pests while minimizing contamination of the environment by pesticides. These signals identified for invasive and native pests, and their predators and parasitoids, will assist government action agencies, growers, and homeowners in promoting biological control and in monitoring or suppressing pests in an environmentally friendly way. 2.List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. 2. List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. Year 1 (FY2005) Mediterranean fruit fly - Formulations for Ceralure B1 complete and release rates determined. Oriental fruit fly – Improved synthesis of fluorinated methyl eugenol attractant complete. Red shouldered stink bug – Improved synthesis for pheromone complete. Lacewing – Western U.S. lacewing species attracted to iridodial identified. Tarnished plant bug – Anti-sex pheromone encapsulated for controlled release and field test for mating disruption complete. Dogwood borer – Monitoring technologies developed using female-produced sex pheromone. Pink hibiscus mealybug –Technologies for detection and monitoring developed and commercial partner identified. Colorado potato beetle - Field tests to demonstrate attractiveness of pheromone isomers completed. Brown marmorated stink bug – Field tests of synthetic attractant complete; captured parasitoids identified. Red-shouldered stink bug – Improved pheromone lure for native stink bugs complete. Gypsy moth – Natural plant products for virus potentiation in “bug-in-bag” studies evaluated. Hemlock wooly adelgid – Hemlock nursery established. Year 2 (FY2006) Red-shouldered stink bug – Glandular source of pheromone components determined. Colorado potato beetle –Methodology developed for coupled gas chromatography/ single cell recordings. Lacewing – Pheromones for new spp. identified. Tarnished plant bug – Lygus antennal protein (LAP) expressed in milligram amounts. Colorado potato beetle - Behavior of adults and larvae to pheromone, plant attractants and repellents on servosphere characterized; full length sequence of sex-specific chemosensory protein determined. Asian longhorned beetle – Trap developed. Brown marmorated stink bug – Lures provided to state agencies to monitor BMS spread; commercial partner identified. Gypsy moth – Promising virus/natural enhancer products in single tree tests with arborist equipment evaluated. Year 3 (FY2007) Colorado potato beetle - Catabolism by-products of pheromone characterized. Colorado potato beetle – Behavior of adults and larvae to multimodal stimuli determined; chemoreceptor neurons on antennae and other appendages characterized for compounds determined in Objective 1. Asian longhorned beetle – Lure developed. Oriental fruit fly – Monitoring and mass trapping with fluorinated methyl eugenol attractant complete. Colorado potato beetle – Tests using behavioral physiology for pheromone and plant attractant for management approaches complete. Red-shouldered stink bug – Dispensers for monitoring or mass trapping developed. Hemlock wooly adelgid – Settlement of hemlock wooly adelgid on plant growth regulator treated plants vs. control plants determined. Year 4 (FY2008) Colorado potato beetle – Sensitivity of chemoreceptors in adults for volatiles collected from all life stages of CPB and its host plants using coupled GC/SCR determined. Tarnished plant bug (TPB) – Chromatographic strategies using LAP to screen potential ligands identified from aerations of TPB and/or host plants developed. Colorado potato beetle - Sex-specific chemosensory protein in adults localized. Dogwood borer – Mass trapping and mating disruption developed. Pink hibiscus mealybug – Mass trapping and mating disruption developed. Mediterranean fruit fly – Field tests with Ceralure B1 complete. Oriental fruit fly - Commercial manufacturers for synthesis identified and under contract. Red-shouldered stink bug – Field test complete; commercial partners identified. Gypsy moth – Enhanced virus combined with other components evaluated in integrated pest management systems. Lacewing – Field tests with new pheromones complete and commercial partners identified. Year 5 (FY2009) Colorado potato beetle (CPB) - Role of catabolites of pheromone in behavior of CPB and associated insects characterized. Colorado potato beetle - Role of sex specific chemosensory protein in signal detection determined. Asian longhorned beetle – Technologies for use of traps and lures. Mediterranean fruit fly – Industry partner identified for commercialization of final Ceralure product. Colorado potato beetle – Attractants and repellents commercialized. 4a.What was the single most significant accomplishment this past year? Oriental fruit fly attractant An easily scalable method to prepare a fluorinated analog of methyl eugenol , an attractant for the oriental fruit fly was developed by scientists in the Chemicals Affecting Insect Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville. A natural chemical compound (methyl eugenol) widely used to monitor and control populations of oriental fruit fly, a world-wide pest of a broad range of tropical, subtropical and temperate host plants. Posing a potential problem to the continued use of the chemical in area-wide pest management programs are reports of cancer causing properties of this compound. The new synthetic procedure will allow for production of large quantities of the fluorine analog for evaluations as a possible replacement for methyl eugenol. 4b.List other significant accomplishments, if any. Stink bug attractants Scientists in the Chemicals Affecting Insect Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville discovered that a previously unknown compound synergizes the known pheromone component of certain economically important stink bugs. Stink bugs are increasingly problematic because of their immunity to genetically modified crops such as Bt-cotton. Field tests revealed that, although traps baited with the newly discovered compound only caught a very few insects, combining this compound with the pheromone component boosted trap catches significantly. Pheromones offer a means to detect and suppress these emerging pests, and the elucidation of a more powerful attractant will increase the likelihood of success for this control tactic. Colorado Potato Beetle (CPB) Attractants The Colorado potato beetle is a major pest of potatoes and other solanaceous plants in the United States, Europe and Asia. Scientists at the Chemicals Affecting Insect Behavior Laboratory (CAIBL) and collaborators at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University showed that a combination of the aggregation pheromone and synthetic plant attractant discovered by CAIBL scientists was effective in attracting CPB to specific regions of potato fields. The successful field and laboratory trials demonstrated the potential usefulness of the attracticide approach for CPB management. 4c.List any significant activities that support special target populations. None 4d.Progress report. None. 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. Long-established Invasive Species: An aggregation pheromone and host-plant volatiles were identified for the Colorado potato beetle (CPB); formulations of these attractants with insecticides (attracticides) are being commercialized for CPB detection and suppression. For the Mediterranean fruit fly the particular isomer most attractive to the medfly (Ceralure B1) was delineated from the gross blend of Ceralure isomers, and a commercially viable synthesis for Ceralure B1 was developed. For the melon fly, a formate ester version of the existing lure (Cuelure) was synthesized and found to be superior to Cuelure. Efforts to commercialize these fruit fly lures are ongoing. For the gypsy moth, laboratory scientists. 1)devised the analytical method for and annually certify commercial batches of the sex pheromone used in the “slow the spread” program of the U.S. Forest Service and,. 2)cooperated with ARS and Forest Service colleagues on a long-term program to develop and improve Gypchek (a virus product registered for use against the gypsy moth). Recent Invasive or Potentially Invasive Pests: Chemical signals were identified for the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB; contact sex pheromone, volatile aggregation pheromone, and host-tree volatiles) and the pink hibiscus mealybug (PHM; volatile sex pheromone). These attractants will be useful for detection and monitoring of these invasive species. Pheromones for the potentially invasive forest pests, the Siberian moth and the rosy Russian gypsy moth, were identified, synthesized and provided to APHIS and the Russian Academy of Sciences for monitoring ports of entry into the U.S. and population levels, respectively. Native Pests: Pheromones were identified for the cranberry blossom worm (Epiglaea apiata), the blueberry leafminer (Caloptilia porphyretica), dogwood borer (Synanthedon scitula), the peach tree borer (Synanthedon exitiosa), a scarab beetle grub (Hoplia equina), and the cranberry root grub (Lichnanthe vulpine). Progress was made in elucidating minor components of indigenous Euschistus and Acrosternum stink bug pheromones that may improve an existing commercial lure for Euschistus spp. or lead to commercialization of a lure for the green stink bug, A. hilare. For plant bugs (Miridae), discovery of sex and anti-sex pheromones for Phytocoris spp. may lead to products useful against the most important plant bugs known as Lygus bugs. Native Beneficial Insects: The availability of an aggregation pheromone (identified prior to the present project by a Laboratory scientist) resulted in commercial availability of the synthetic pheromone and commercial production of the predators themselves. A pheromone for lacewings is likely to lead to commercial availability of a lure for these important predators of aphids and other small arthropod pests. The discovery by laboratory scientists and collaborators that some parasitoids of true bugs (Heteroptera) are attracted to pheromones of their hosts or associated chemicals indicates that these attractants may be used to enhance biological control. 6.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? A CRADA partner is developing traps and lures for the Colorado potato beetle (CPB) for use in survey and detection. The plant-volatile based attractant has been supplied to an Australian federal agricultural agency to monitor for accidental introduction of CPB into Australia. Inquiries have been received from the Central Science Laboratory in Sand Hutton concerning use of the Colorado potato beetle attractants to improve detection of this invasive species in the United Kingdom. A new CRADA partner in Australia is developing the CPB attractants for management applications. A patent was granted for the male-produced aggregation pheromone of the Colorado potato beetle. Work on the Gypsy moth work directly supported action agencies development a species-specific virus product against the gypsy moth. A CRADA was developed with industry for development of pheromone-based trapping and mating disruption for the dogwood borer. A CRADA and confidentiality agreements were processed with industry for synthesis and use of the pink hibiscus mealybug pheromone. 7.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: List your peer reviewed publications below). Sex pheromone of mealybug nailed. Chemical & Engineering News. p. 8, June 21, 2004. Review Publications Greenstone, M.H., Dickens, J.C. 2005. The production and appropriation of chemical signals amount plants, herbivores and predators.. Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions., p. 139-165. Khrimian, A. 2005. The geometric isomers of methyl-2,4,6-decatrienoate, including pheromones of at least two species of stink bugs.. Tetrahedron 61(15): 3651-3657. Martel, J.W., Alford, R.A., Dickens, J.C. 2005. Synthetic host volatiles increase efficacy of trap cropping for management of colorado potato beetle, leptinotarsa decemlineata. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. 7:71-78. Shirali, S., Zhang, A. 2004. Enantioselective synthesis of (r)-2-methyl alkanoic acids: a convenient approach to a-substituted chiral carboxylic acid derivastives.. Synthetic Communications. 34:3435-3441. Thorpe, K.W., Aldrich, J.R. 2005. Conditions for short-term storage of field-collected spined soldier bug (hemiptera: pentatomidae) adults prior to augmentative release. Journal of Entomological Science. 39:483-489 Zhang, A., Nie, J., Khrimian, A. 2005. Chiral synthesis of maconelliol: a novel cyclobutanoid terpene alcohol from pink hibiscus mealybug, maconellicoccus hirsutus.. Tetrahedron Letters. 45:9401-9403. Aldrich, J.R., Zhang, Q., Zhang, A. 2004. Synergistic chemical attraction of the eastern yellowjacket, vespula maculifrons (hymenoptera: vespidae). Journal of Entomological Science 39: 643-653. Martel, J., Alford, A., Dickens, J.C. 2005. Laboratory and greenhouse evaluation of a synthetic host volatile attractant for colorado potato beetle, leptinotarsa decemlineata (say).. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. 7:71-78.